By Isiah Magsino
New York weather never ceases to amaze me with how unpredictable it can be. Polar vortex one week, springtime the next. What is it going to be? Though I was braving the outdoors with five layers on a few days ago, sweat annoyingly began to form on my forehead as I waited in line for Dyne’s fall/winter presentation earlier today.
In a very large glass convention center room at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Dyne presented its fall/winter collection. Surrounded by an overwhelming amount of people, mannequins were dispersed in each corner of the square floor plan. The center of the room had literal junk in the middle — well, junk but “make it fashion,” a “make it fashion” that also reminded people of the apocalyptic junk world Wall-E was living in until the super chic Eve came into his life.
On these mannequins, Nylon and other tech-y fabrics were molded into shapes that alluded to the futuristic fashion audiences can see on the Sci-Fi network. However, unlike the “Tron” allusions found in Kim Jones’ latest Dior menswear collection, this collection seemed to take place in a future not too distant from now, as the combination of styling and clothes created a hybrid of chic space outfits and gym clothes (has Equinox gone too far?).
Pertaining to the current neon trend found on every fashion model’s Instagram, neon greens and blues were found on the piping and detail of many of the primarily black and gray garments.
The entire collection focused on technology, as the dystopian technological future was also found on the faces of the mannequins, which wore sunglasses paired with various scraps of aluminums and electrical wires. Perhaps this was a move by Christopher Bevans, Dyne’s creative director, to exemplify the overbearing use of technology in our everyday life, or perhaps it was a move to symbolize a harmonious relationship. Either way, viewers were faced with the reality of how our obsession with technology has become naturalized (within the fashion world).
Initially, there was no feeling of the punctum that philosopher Roland Barthes wrote about. This punctum ultimately refers to the extreme spark of interest that is felt after looking at an image. I may be biased in this statement, as I am more of a Valentino and McQueen guy, but fashion is ultimately subjective, and I am allowed to feel the way I do.
Though I continued to study the clothing with discontent, it was only after learning about the interactive component of the collection that I concluded Dyne has done something incredibly interesting this season.
Dyne’s fall/winter collection is composed of more than simple pieces of fabrics put together. Instead, there is a relationship between technology and apparel within the small collection. When one of the staff members placed their phones against what seemed to be a barcode, information on the components about the clothes were then translated onto the phone screen.
Though to some this might seem menial, the potential of technology’s influence on clothing is seemingly exponential. Who needs an Apple Watch when your jacket can monitor the miles you’ve run? Though the aesthetic was not there for me, and incorporating technology into fashion is something completely foreign to me, I’m interested in seeing the progression Dyne makes in the future.
Before this collection, I had thought of fashion as being limited to advancements in fabrics. This collection showed me that there are many other components, such as the interactive technology I discovered today, that can push clothing in new, unique and unconventional directions. If technology is evolving, why not clothing?
Keeping Dyne on my radar, I will be completely sold the day the technology in their clothes includes free flights and UberEats services.
